In The Moon's Bloody Shadow
by Darktiger2
Summary: What can an elder brother do, to bring back the life he once knew? When the Shredder strikes, life Leo once knew took a turn for the worst. The Very Worst. FINISHED!
1. Prologue: Shadows

Hey people!!! This is the story I've been talking about...the rated R one.

So,

**_WARNING!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! This is rated R for a REASON. It is not a mistake. It is rated R because of the language...erm...more of it...AND its bloody and angsty content. It is not for the faint of heart (I've always wanted to say that!). _**

Oh, and also, if you feel like the characters are WAY out of character, then PLEASE DO NOT SAY SO. Thank you.

_The characters are/will be out of character, and I know that. But once again, I put a lot of my inner pain and anguish into the story/main/favorite character and this creates a horridly out-of-character person._

_Also, the out of character thing can be related to, because even the strongest can break under pressure. **And this story examines how far one will go in order to try and right everything. It is an examination of how far one can go before he/she breaks.** And the rest of it will be explained once this story is finished. But until then, please remember this note and do **NOT** flame me. Thank you._

Shudders. I fear the reviews I will get....O.O......(hides in a room devoid of doors and windows)...EEEEEEPPPPPPPPP!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

_**DISCAIMER:** None of the characters belong to me, although I wish Leo did...;) _

_And once again, this is a rated R story and you all know what that means. And the characters will be out of character._

_Thank you. Now, onto the story._

_EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPP_

Prologue: _Shadows_

It had only been two weeks ago, but it felt as if it had been much longer. The Shredder had attacked them, forced them from the Lair, and drove them into hiding. Also, in the process, wounded them greatly.

Splinter was in coma from a head wound. It wasn't serious, but it was worrying nonetheless. But that wasn't the worst.

Leo hadn't been home when the attack happened. He had had to rush home. But when he had gotten there, he found a drastic change in his brothers.

Leo suspected that the Shredder had changed them. But he didn't know how.

&&&&&&

The change was evident. All of them had become darker, more violent, more bloody, and more moody. Even Raph, who was already rash and a bit violent, changed drastically as well.

Now, they were all hiding in April's new place. It was much bigger, but it was still new, so it was fairly empty. Casey had moved in with them to try to help Leo take care of his brothers.

Both April and Casey were working during the day, so Leo was stuck at home all alone with his brothers. And they came home late at night when it was dark and his brothers were already asleep.

Leo, over the course of two weeks began loosing a lot of weight. He still trained, but he spent most of his time trying to help his brothers. Leo felt that the Shredder had them under his control, and that was why they were behaving this way.

April and Casey had no idea what went on during the day. And Leo never told them.

He never told them how much his brothers had changed, and how violent they really got.

EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPP 

Well that's it. Lord help me.

_EEP!!!_

_Oh, and by the way, the chapter titles will form a poem. This is just the prologue, so this is the title of the poem. Cool huh?_


	2. When Darkness Falls

Oh yay!!!! I got four reviews already! And they are good!!!! Oh, and I would like to add that this story will be a two part one. (giggles) I just decided that. I made up another really cool title and it would be sad if it went to waste!!!!

So,

**_WARNING!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! This is rated R for a REASON. It is not a mistake. It is rated R because of the language...erm...more of it...AND its bloody and angsty content. It is not for the faint of heart (I've always wanted to say that!). _**

Oh, and also, if you feel like the characters are WAY out of character, then PLEASE DO NOT SAY SO. Thank you.

_The characters are/will be out of character, and I know that. But once again, I put a lot of my inner pain and anguish into the story/main/favorite character and this creates a horridly out-of-character person._

_Also, the out of character thing can be related to, because even the strongest can break under pressure. **And this story examines how far one will go in order to try and right everything. It is an examination of how far one can go before he/she breaks.** And the rest of it will be explained once this story is finished. But until then, please remember this note and do **NOT** flame me. Thank you._

Shudders. I fear the reviews I will get....O.O......(hides in a room devoid of doors and windows)...EEEEEEPPPPPPPPP!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

_**DISCAIMER:** None of the characters belong to me, although I wish Leo did...;) _

_And once again, this is a rated R story and you all know what that means. And the characters will be out of character._

_Thank you. Now, onto the story._

_Oh yeah. ITALICS in the story mean thoughts. _

_**EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPP**_

Chapter 1: _When Darkness Falls_

Leo was sitting in the kitchen, holding a cup of tea. Suddenly, the silence was disturbed by footsteps. The light was flicked on and April stepped hurriedly into the kitchen. She stepped back in surprise when she saw Leo, before she smiled. "Oh! Hey Leo. Why are you up so early? It's only five in the morning." She asked, as she made herself some instant coffee.

Leo shrugged before tightening his grip on the cup. "I couldn't sleep."

April sighed as she sat down beside Leo and sipped her coffee. "You've been getting up every morning earlier and earlier! What time did you get up now?" She asked, eyeing Leo.

Leo shrugged again before taking a sip of tea. "I don't know. 2 maybe?"

April shook her head sadly and put down her mug onto the table. "You need to rest more, Leo! I'm worried about you! You are so tired nowadays. It isn't good for your health."

Leo stayed silent. _If she only knew the whole story..._ He thought, watching April finish her coffee and stand up, before leaving for work.

He was alone again. Casey had left a few minutes before April. Now, he was alone with his younger brothers and their father/guardian who was in coma. Leo sighed. It had been this way for many days. He had gotten used to the loneliness and sadness each day.

Leo sighed before looking down at his cup. There were only tea leaves left. Leo frowned before looking away again. Then in the corner of his eye he saw something. Looking back down at his cup, he saw a picture of a gun. Leo blinked. Turning the cup, he saw a cross. Leo stared at it a little before turning the cup again out of morbid curiosity. This time, the leaves formed the shape of a tree. Leo sat staring at it for a bit before chuckling.

It wasn't a happy chuckle, but a sad hopeless one.

The gun meant 'caution of hidden dangers'. The cross meant 'self-sacrifice'. And finally, the tree meant 'improvement in life'.

Leo kept chuckling. He had no clue how leaves could form into a gun, then into a cross, and then into a tree, but it was all so silly!

"Right." Leo muttered to himself, standing up. He could imagine the first two happening, the way things were going, but the last? Oh, come on. "Like _that_ would ever happen."

&&&&&

Leo paused before knocking and opening the door. His brothers all shared a room, but he, Leo, had managed to get a small room all to himself. April and Casey had thought that he could use that. Leo didn't really care. He spent most of his time outside of his room anyways.

Leo looked inside the room. The room still amazed him. There was no windows in here, but the walls were thick and huge. This room was actually meant to be a living room, but now it was turned into a bedroom for three.

Right now, the huge room was filled with three makeshift beds-one in each corner of the room. Other than that, the room was bare. Right now, only one of the beds was filled. Raph's.

Leo frowned. Raph's corner of the room was messy. Actually, all the corners were messy, but Raph's especially. Small glass cups lay beside Raph's bed, broken and scattered all around. Water seeped through the carpet.

Leo bit his lip. Raph was usually messy, but never like this!

Raph suddenly spoke. "Don't ya ever knock." He snared, not looking up from his current occupation, sharpening his sais.

Leo's frown became even deeper. No matter how angry Raph was, he was never this cold! Leo walked over to Raph. "Raph. Stop that! You're sais are sharp enough." He chided gently, reaching over to take them.

Raph's eyes flashed and he knocked Leo's hand away. "I'll do what I want."

Leo sighed, but knew better than to press the subject. "Raph, Don and Mikey are already up and eating breakfast." _At least, I hope so._ Leo thought worriedly, before looking back at Raph. "Come on."

Raph scoffed. "I don't want any of your fuckin' cookin'!"

Leo sighed again. "_Language_ Raph!"

Raph suddenly stood and swiftly jumped off the bed, landing right in front of Leo. Leo blinked and quickly took a step back. "I don't fuckin' care! You're not the boss of me, you piece of shit!"

Leo felt his blood boil. "Raphael. I don't know what's gotten into you, but—"

Suddenly, Leo found himself on the ground with pain in his right cheek. Leo quickly stood up, before gently touching his cheek. Shock filled him. Sure, they fought a lot, but even though sometimes it turned physical, they usually held back a lot and just crossed weapons, always ever so careful not to harm the other. Even Raph, the usually hotheaded one, would always be careful at that. But this time, Raph didn't hold back...he had meant this...

Leo suddenly realized that Raph was talking in the distance. He slowly focused himself onto what he was saying, and immediately regretted it.

"—why the shell do you care what's gotten into me? So what? Huh? Why the shell do you care you piece of crap?"

Leo bit his lip, suddenly confused on what to do. "Raph..." He began hesitantly. "I am your _brother._ I'm supposed to care!"

Raph's eyes flashed again. "Well, don't!"

Leo saddened. He looked away. He was tired of it all. "Please Raph." He begged, not really caring anymore what he did. He had sunk so low during the past two weeks, that it wouldn't make a difference if he begged. "Please Raph. What has gotten into you? Why are you acting like this?"

Raph suddenly laughed. It was a cold, cruel laugh.

Leo felt himself still. Raph was never like this before...

Raph suddenly stopped laughing and looked mockingly at him. "What's wrong, _bro_?" He said 'bro' as if it was some sort of venomous word. "The '_Great_, _fearless_ _leader'_ finally results to begging??!!"

Leo felt his cheeks grow hot. "Raph...what's _wrong_ with you?"

"Wrong?" Raph snarled, reaching for his sais. Leo saw this and backed away quickly. He had left his swords in his room...

"_Wrong_? Nothing's _wrong_ with _me._" Raph continued, his voice dropping to a venomous whisper.

Leo shook his head and took a step forward. "No Raph. Don't you realize? You've changed so much!"

Raph just shook his head, grinning wickedly. "Nope. _I_ haven't changed. It's haven't changed. It's _YOU_ THAT'S CHANGED!!!!!" With that, Raph jumped at him with his sais raised.

Leo took a quick step to the side, but even so, Raph's sais scratched his face. He felt blood trickle down his cheek.

Raph slowly turned from where he had landed. His grin became even wider. "What's wrong, _dear brother?_" He asked, once again in a sarcastic whisper. "You've gotten slow..."

Leo backed away, feeling totally helpless and clueless on what he should do. "Raph! Stop this, please!"

But Raph just glared at him, hatred gleaming in his eyes. "I hate you." He whispered, his voice rising with every word. "I. HATE. YOU.!!!! Get out!!!! GET OUT!!!!" Raph yelled, shoving Leo out the door.

Leo turned around just as the door slammed into his face. He sighed. This, apart from Raph turning physically violent on him, was what he went through each day.

&&&&&

Leo went into the bathroom and locked the door, before sighing. He looked cautiously into the mirror and winced. Where Raph had punched him, was turning into a large and ugly bruise, but at least the cut had stopped bleeding...

Leo sighed again and looked away from the mirror. He knew that it wasn't Raph who was doing it. He now knew for sure. The way Raph acted and looked at him all proved it. But now what?

**EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPP** _Waves sheepishly. Umm...Hi!!!_

_Sees angry glares._

_Umm...you'll understand later?_

_GLARES._

_Umm...bye!!!!! Runs away._

_Review please...no flames!!_


	3. The Angels Cry

Wow!!! EIGHT REVIEWS!!!!!!! (squeaks with glee)

**_WARNING!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! This is rated R for a REASON. It is not a mistake. It is rated R because of the language...erm...more of it...AND its bloody and angsty content. It is not for the faint of heart (I've always wanted to say that!). _**

Oh, and also, if you feel like the characters are WAY out of character, then PLEASE DO NOT SAY SO. Thank you.

_The characters are/will be out of character, and I know that. But once again, I put a lot of my inner pain and anguish into the story/main/favorite character and this creates a horridly out-of-character person._

_Also, the out of character thing can be related to, because even the strongest can break under pressure. **And this story examines how far one will go in order to try and right everything. It is an examination of how far one can go before he/she breaks.** And the rest of it will be explained once this story is finished. But until then, please remember this note and do **NOT** flame me. Thank you._

Shudders. I fear the reviews I will get....O.O......(hides in a room devoid of doors and windows)...EEEEEEPPPPPPPPP!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

_**DISCAIMER:** None of the characters belong to me. _

_And once again, this is a rated R story and you all know what that means. And the characters will be out of character._

_Thank you. Now, onto the story._

_Oh yeah. ITALICS in the story mean thoughts. _

_**EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPP**_

Chapter 2: _The Angels Cry_

Leo stepped into the kitchen to find Donny still sitting at the table, glaring down at the table. Around his chair lay a broken plate and cup, and all of its content spilled onto the floor. Mikey was nowhere to be seen.

Leo stopped before Don. He bent down and picked up a piece of broken plate. He looked at it before looking at Don again. "You know that this isn't ours."

Don didn't look at him.

Leo sighed, realizing he wasn't going to get an answer. "I'll get you another plate."

He said, turning and walking over to the cabinet, leaving the broken piece of plate on the table.

"No."

Leo stopped at the voice. He slowly turned to look back at Donny. "What?" He asked.

Don this time, looked at him. "I said No." He repeated before standing up.

Leo looked at him. "But Don, you need to eat."

Don raised his head up higher. "There's food in the refrigerator. We are able to take care of ourselves. _I_ am able to take care of _myself._"

Leo cocked his head. "I'm not really sure I'm getting you, Don."

Don rolled his eyes. "Are you really this dense, Leo?" He snapped. "Let me spell it out for you then: We. Don't. Need. You."

Leo blinked for a second before opening his mouth to argue.

But Don shook his head and cut him off. "Uh, uh, uh." He said. "We. Don't. Need. You."

Leo felt helplessness once again take hold of him. What was he supposed to do now?

"But Don..."

Don's eyes flashed, something that Leo never had seen him do. Raph was one thing, hell, he could even imagine himself or Mikey do it, but _DON???_

"I SAID WE DON'T NEED YOU, bro!!!! What's so hard to get about that???!!!"

Leo felt his blood boil. "The mere fact that I am your elder brother, and I'm supposed to care for you!"

Don turned his head away, signaling that he wasn't willing to listen. "Listen, _bro._ I don't know who you think you are, but you need a wake up call." Don hissed, looking back menacingly at Leo. Leo felt himself still. "You think that just because you're the eldest, you have to treat us as if we're lesser than you! Well, I've got news for you. Grow up." Don added the last part sarcastically, before turning around and marching out of the kitchen.

"He's right, you know."

Leo jumped at the sudden voice. He whirled around and saw Mikey leaning on the wall.

Mikey gave him a cold look. "Why can't you ever just leave us alone?" With that said, Mikey left as well, leaving a stunned Leo alone.

Leo stood in the kitchen, stunned. Is this what his brother's really think...?

Leo let out a shuddering breath, before kneeling down and starting to pick up the broken pieces of the plate.

Leo suddenly winced, and dropped a piece of plate he had been holding. The piece clattered onto the floor, the white porcelain colored a deep red. Leo stared at it for a few seconds before looking down at his hand that he was unconsciously clutching.

Between his fingers, red liquid oozed down and dripped onto the floor. Leo watched it before realizing something.

_Damn!!! The floor!_ Leo unceremoniously snatched the piece of plate off of the floor, leaving a small drop of blood. Leo quickly dumped it into the trash, not realizing that the shards were cutting into his hand.

Then, he quickly grabbed a towel and began to wipe the floor clean of the blood, not realizing that the towel was turning slowly red where he held it.

After the floor was clean, Leo picked up the rag, before frowning. _Damn. Now the rag's all bloody!_ Leo sighed, knowing that the rag was beyond cleaning, so he quickly hid it in the trash can, under other trash.

By now, the wounds on his hand had stopped bleeding. But Leo didn't care. He quickly cleaned up the rest of the mess on the floor, before starting to make lunch.

&&&&&

Leo stood in a room. Rain was pounding on a nearby window. Leo opened his eyes slowly. He looked ahead, only to realize that the room was too dark to really see anything.

Suddenly, he realized that something was dripping. Dripping steadily, and it wasn't the rain.

Suddenly, Leo heard rapid footsteps coming towards him, and before he could react, he was suddenly hugged by someone. Leo blinked and looked down.

Don hugged him even tighter, burying his head into Leo's chest. "I'm sorry..." He whispered over and over again, his voice quivering.

Leo looked down at him surprised. "Why?"

Don looked up at him, wide-eyed, his face streaked with tears. He opened his mouth to say something, but he faded out of sight...

&&&&&

Leo woke up with a jerk, realizing that he had fallen asleep, sitting in his chair. Leo sighed before looking down at his hands. They were cut up pretty bad. But Leo looked away. After all, the wounds would heal.

Leo looked down at the mug of tea he had made himself. Glancing up at the clock, he realized that it was only three more hours before April and Casey came home. Leo sighed.

His brothers hadn't eaten lunch today, but they'd eaten the dinner. _After a lot of fuss._ Leo thought sadly. _Nothing had happened, except that Raph had gotten pissed at him again and had punched him. But he had blocked the punch. However, that had gotten Raph angrier and soon he was having to block various punches and kicks from Raph. It was nothing big, it was just like training, only that Raph was actually meaning to hurt him, and had managed to hit him quite painfully in a few places. _

Leo sighed, staring into thin air_. It had been two weeks ago._ _Two weeks._ Leo sighed again. _It was amazing how far one could sink in just a small amount of days. But he couldn't help believing his brothers' words. It was hard not to. After all, he was never one with the strongest confidence in himself. He always had had to recheck his boundaries and plans and strategies, constantly worrying about things...worrying about mistakes...his mistakes. Even though he put up that 'fearless leader' act, in truth, he was always afraid...He had always been prone to depression and low confidence..._

Leo quickly shook his head, trying to chase away those thoughts. He hated admitting that to himself. He knew it, and he hated himself for it.

Leo put his mug down gently before standing up. He wanted to do something. He needed to do something. To talk to someone.

Leo quickly made his way through the kitchen, before entering the living room. Inside, Mikey was sitting on the floor, reading his comics; Raph was watching a bloody film; and even though Leo didn't see Don, he knew where he was. There was a separate room, that was connected to the living room, where April stored her computer and all her technical things. Don was most likely there, sitting and typing furiously on it.

Even though his brothers blatantly ignored his presence, Leo couldn't help but smile happily as he made his way through the living room and into a hallway. At least his brothers hadn't forgotten what interested them.

&&&&&&

Leo took a deep breath, calming himself, before opening a door. The room was warm, even though the window was open and a cold breeze was blowing into the dark room. There was a single bed in the room, and on it lay Master Splinter.

Leo frowned before quickly striding over to the window and shutting it quickly, drawing the curtains as well.

The window faced a blank wall, so Leo wasn't afraid of anyone seeing him. But still, just in case, was why Leo drew in the curtains.

Leo paused before completely closing the curtains. The sky that peeked out from a small space between the two buildings was gray. Leo shivered as a flash of lightning lighted up the sky for a second. Leo waited for a few seconds before hearing the distant thunder.

Then, slowly, ever so slowly, it began to rain.

**EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPP**

__

_Yeah! Another chapter done!_

_I'm working on my other projects too._

_Review Please!_


	4. Stars Slowly Fade

Hey people! I'm Back!!!!

**_WARNING!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! This is rated R for a REASON. It is not a mistake. It is rated R because of the language…erm…more of it…AND its bloody and angsty content. It is not for the faint of heart (I've always wanted to say that!). _**

Oh, and also, if you feel like the characters are WAY out of character, then PLEASE DO NOT SAY SO. Thank you.

_The characters are/will be out of character, and I know that. But once again, I put a lot of my inner pain and anguish into the story/main/favorite character and this creates a horridly out-of-character person._

_Also, the out of character thing can be related to, because even the strongest can break under pressure. **And this story examines how far one will go in order to try and right everything. It is an examination of how far one can go before he/she breaks.** And the rest of it will be explained once this story is finished. But until then, please remember this note and do **NOT** flame me. Thank you._

Shudders. I fear the reviews I will get….O.O……(hides in a room devoid of doors and windows)…EEEEEEPPPPPPPPP!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

_**DISCAIMER:** None of the characters belong to me. _

_And once again, this is a rated R story and you all know what that means. And the characters will be out of character._

_Thank you. Now, onto the story._

_Oh yeah. ITALICS in the story mean thoughts. _

_**EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPP**_

Chapter 3: _Stars slowly fade_

Leo sat down onto the floor beside the bed. The bed was just a makeshift bed, meaning that it was just a mattress with some covers and a pillow on it. Leo sighed, drawing his legs up to his chest, and burying his head into his arms.

Master Splinter was still not awake. But the head wound was healing nicely.

But despite the evidence that Splinter would be awake soon, Leo was still worried. April had had spent a few years working in a hospital, so she knew how to deal with these kinds of situations.

And she kept telling Leo that the reason Splinter wasn't awake was because this is how his body reacted to the sudden need to heal itself.

Leo sighed before looking back at the window. The curtains covered the outside well, but lightening was still seen dancing through the sky.

Suddenly, Leo couldn't bear it anymore. "Sensei," He began, talking more to himself than Splinter, "Please wake up soon!"

Leo took a deep breath before the words just began to spill out, admitting what he really felt. "I…I can't do this." He whispered, feeling a wave of shame and grief as he spoke. "I know I'm the eldest, the leader, and that means to watch out for my younger siblings. Be the strongest, be the best at everything…but I just can't. I tried…I really did…" Leo whispered, trying to defend himself, all the while feeling guilt rake his soul.

_But maybe I didn't try hard enough…_

But Leo continued, not really caring anymore.

"I used to think that it was the Shredder who was doing this, but now I just don't know…"

_Maybe it's not him after all…Maybe I'm wrong again…_

"I don't know…I just feel so _helpless._"

_And I hate that…_

"Helpless because I just don't know what to do. They're turning against me…they've changed…"

_No…_

"No…_I've_ changed…"

Realization dawned on him. _I'm still protecting them…how ironic…_

Leo smirked sadly. He buried his head once again into his arms. "I…don't know what to do…they've become……"

Leo paused for a second, trying to search for the right word.

"_physically _violent…"

Leo winced as those words left his mouth. He had wanted to say something else…but…he couldn't…

Leo paused as he looked up at the ceiling. He felt tears trickle down his face. Quickly, he wiped them away. He mustn't cry. Crying doesn't solve anything.

"It's not me I'm afraid for." Leo suddenly spoke up. "It's Casey and April. They've been ever so helpful and nice to us,"

_And we…no…I don't deserve it…_

"and I'm afraid that they'll get hurt if the…others…don't stop soon."

Leo stopped for another breather, before fingering the bruise that Raph gave him. He shrugged.

"I can take the pain…" He whispered. "But…I'm afraid that if they turn on Casey or April, I won't be able to stop them!"

_They've never really listened to me…I was always another who ordered them around…_

Suddenly, Leo burst out. "I don't know how long I can take this, Sensei! I know I'm supposed to and all, but I just can't! I've become slower in my reactions and much more tired. Today I couldn't even block a punch that Raph threw at me…"

Leo whispered the last part, before fingering his bruise. He looked down at the floor, feeling guilt begin to choke him. This was all so wrong…

He sighed then, before standing up. He didn't know if Splinter could hear him, but he goddamn hoped he _couldn't_. Splinter would get a heart attack if he saw him like this…

"Please get better soon." He whispered, looking down at his teacher. He then turned and walked out the door.

All the while the rain kept falling, and new, darker clouds covered up the stars until they faded.

**EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPP**

_Gah! That was honestly the worst chapter I have written. Yuck. Oh well. I'll get better…_

_And whew. I've been typing like a maniac today! I've updated like four stories AT ONCE!!!! Tell me that's impressive! Lol._

_Don't worry, I hadn't forgotten the other stories…except this ones my favorite! )_

_Review Please!_


	5. And Hope Flees

_Hey people! I'm Back!_

**_WARNING! This is rated R for a REASON. It is not a mistake. It is rated R because of the language…erm…more of it…AND its bloody and angsty content. It is not for the faint of heart (I've always wanted to say that!). _**

_Oh, and also, if you feel like the characters are WAY out of character, then PLEASE DO NOT SAY SO. Thank you._

_The characters are/will be out of character, and I know that. But once again, I put a lot of my inner pain and anguish into the story/main/favorite character and this creates a horridly out-of-character person._

_Also, the out of character thing can be related to, because even the strongest can break under pressure. **And this story examines how far one will go in order to try and right everything. It is an examination of how far one can go before he/she breaks.** And the rest of it will be explained once this story is finished. But until then, please remember this note and do **NOT** flame me. Thank you._

_**DISCAIMER:** None of the characters belong to me. _

_And once again, this is a rated R story and you all know what that means. And the characters will be out of character._

_Thank you. Now, onto the story._

_Oh yeah. ITALICS in the story mean thoughts. _

_**

* * *

**_

Chapter 4: _And hope flees_

Chapter 4: 

By some miracle, Leo managed to get everyone at the table to eat lunch.

Leo, himself, wasn't eating. He quit a long time ago. Maybe just a little piece of bread here, or a piece of fruit there, but other than that, he didn't eat. He knew that it wasn't right, and that he was loosing weight rapidly, but he just wasn't hungry nowadays. Instead, he just sipped tea and made sure the others ate.

"Raph, Mikey," Leo gently spoke up, "Stop picking at your food. It isn't going to bite!"

Mikey slammed his fork down and glared at Leo. "You suck!" He stated angrily. "Ya can't even cook right!"

Leo sighed. He wasn't good at cooking, true, but he was a much better cook then Mikey was. He just never did the cooking 'cause he hated it. "At least _try_ to eat it."

Mikey huffed before crossing his arms. "I ain't eatin' this junk!" He declared stubbornly.

Leo sighed again. "Fine. I won't force you. There's some leftover pizza in the fridge, I think." Leo replied quietly.

Mikey grinned before getting up and going over to the fridge to look for the pizza. Raph watched him go, before looking down at his plate, then back at the fridge. He growled before flicking some food out onto the table.

Leo raised an eyebrow. "Raph! Stop that!" He reprimanded gently.

Raph growled before dropping his fork onto the floor.

Leo looked at him wearily. He didn't like where this was going. "Raph…pick that up…"

Raph glared at him. "No."

"Raph…"

"I ain't gonna eat your fuckin' cookin'!"

"Raph! Language!"

Raph's eyes flashed and he knocked his plate down onto the floor. The plate shattered on impact, and the food spilled everywhere.

Leo looked down at the mess before looking at Raph again. "Ra—" He started in a scolding tone, when Don interrupted.

"That's not fair!"

Leo blinked and looked at him. "What's not fair Don?"

Don turned his head a little to look at him. "How come Mikey and Raph don't have to eat this rubbish?"

Leo stared at Don, before glancing at Raph. "I never said that!"

Don opened his mouth to say something, when Raph suddenly jumped up, snatching out one of his sais, and slamming the sai, blade-first, into the table in front of Leo. Leo stared at the sai, feeling his heart slowly slow down from its rapid pace. He closed his eye for a second, before opening them again and glanced up at Raph. Raph was standing looking menacingly down at him.

"Hey!"

Leo and Raph both looked at Don.

"Careful where you're aiming!"

Raph scoffed. "I'll aim where I damn want to."

Don stood up. "You don't just goddamn slam some fuckin' shit down wherever you want to!"

Leo stared. Don was the last person whom he ever thought would use cuss words. He slowly stood up, biting his lip as he watched his brothers begin to yell at each other.

"All right…all right!" Leo said finally, when the two began to approach each other in a menacing way. Leo jumped forward and stood in-between them. "Stop this! You're acting like little kids!"

Raph and Don both glared at him. Leo gulped, knowing that he had crossed some invisible line in their mind.

Suddenly, Don kicked him. Not the normal kind of kick, but a karate kick, that was aimed for the opponent's head. And it caught Leo fight in the face.

Leo yelped in surprise as he crashed into the table, catching himself on the table's edge. Quickly, he brought his hand up to his face, and felt his lip begin to bleed.

Don smirked before turning towards him. "That'll teach you to lecture me!" He hissed, before stalking out of the kitchen.

Mikey, who had been watching all along by the fridge, ran after Don, and Leo could hear him congratulating him on the kick.

Leo stared after his two brothers. It was surprising enough to see Don use violence, especially against him, but Mikey, the usually carefree and lighthearted one, congratulating Don on kicking him?

Suddenly, Leo became aware that he wasn't alone. Quickly, he looked back to where Raph had stood, but to his surprise, Raph wasn't there.

Leo let go of the table and glanced around, when he felt something cold and thin under his chin. Leo felt his breath hitch. He could easily maneuver out of the situation, but that would require him to really harm Raph…and that he couldn't bring himself to do.

So Leo just stayed still, leaning his head back as the sai slowly got closer to his neck.

He leaned back until he bumped against something. Leo froze. He didn't need to turn around to know who it was. Raph.

"What are you—"

Leo was cut off by the sai touching his neck. Leo let out a shaky breath as he felt his heart rate increase. With a jolt, he realized he was afraid. Afraid of his own brother…

Suddenly, the sai scraped against his neck, just enough to draw a little blood. Leo jerked backwards, but hit his head against Raph's shoulder. He felt it quiver under him, and Leo realized that Raph was laughing…

"You're so pathetic, _big bro._ I don't even know why I fuckin' keep you around…maybe cause the others wouldn't like if I killed off their _slave_…"

Leo stiffened. "Slave?" He asked, tilting his head back a little to keep the sai from digging deeper into his neck.

Raph chuckled. "Yep." He said as if it was the most obvious thing in the world. "Why? Whadya fuckin' think you were?" He asked, before dropping the sai from Leo's neck and at the same time, shoving Leo onto the floor.

Leo hit the floor hard, gasping as he felt his shoulder begin to bruise.

Raph slowly shook his head, his shoulders shaking as he laughed. Suddenly, he kicked at Leo, catching him in the stomach, sending him into the counter.

Leo coughed as he tried to catch his breath, before glancing up at Raph. Raph just stood in front of him, glowering down at him.

Suddenly, in a swift move, Raph crouched down in front of him. Leo flinched. Raph just grinned even more wickedly, before abruptly grabbing Leo's neck. Leo gasped in surprise as his hands flew up to his neck to try to pry Raph's hands off of them. But Raph's hands just tightened around his neck, cutting Leo's air supply short.

"Now listen…" Raph hissed in his ear, so only Leo could hear him. "You are nothing, but a fuckin' piece of insignificant _crap!_ You _will_ do _everything_ that we tell you to! And you won't try any funny stuff, 'cuz I won't hesitate to break your little neck!"

And to demonstrate that, Raph tightened his grip on Leo's neck and completely cut off Leo's air supply. But only for a few milliseconds. Leo gasped for breath as Raph let him go. Once Leo got his normal breathing back, he looked up at his younger brother, willing himself to believe that this was only a dream.

Raph stood up, not taking his eyes off him. "You got that?" he growled.

With a sinking heart, Leo nodded. He could not harm his brothers…no matter what…it went against every moral he had. He would fight against the enemy, he would spar against his brothers, but he would not do anything to them that could harm them. Even during sparing, he held back a lot…his moral and honor would not allow that.

* * *

Leo was back in the dark room again. He could hear the rain pounding on the walls and the window. Leo blinked as he heard a steady dripping again. Focusing on the sound, he realized that the dripping was coming somewhere near him.

But Leo never got to look at what it was, because right then, he felt a hand on his shoulder. Leo jumped and whirled around, his heart racing.

But it was only Raph.

Leo felt himself relax, before suddenly remembering what Raph had done to him. He felt himself tense up as one of his hands touched his throat gently.

Raph looked at him for a few more seconds before looking down at the floor. "I'm sorry." He muttered, so quietly that Leo almost didn't catch it.

Leo blinked as he sensed déjà vu all over again. Donny had apologized as well…but why?

Leo looked at Raph uncertainly. "Why?" He asked.

Raph snapped his head up and stared at Leo in complete surprise. "Isn't it obvious?" He asked in a bewildered tone.

Leo looked at him before shaking his head. Raph looked down at the floor again before opening his mouth…and fading out of sight.

Leo jumped in surprise. "Raph!" He yelled, before realizing that Raph was gone, just like Don had.

The dripping increased.

* * *

Leo jerked awake; as he quickly looked around the unfamiliar place he was in. Suddenly, he realized where he was. He sighed in relief.

He was in his room, sitting in the corner, on his makeshift bed. He had managed to fall asleep as soon as he got into his room.

He had cleaned up the kitchen, treated his wounds, before cleaning up his brothers' room because Raph had told him to. Leo scoffed. He really _was_ pathetic! Taking orders from his brothers…

But he didn't have a choice…a broken neck wouldn't help his brothers or Master Splinter…

Then he had made dinner, before making sure his brothers ate (getting a whole bunch of bruises in the process), cleaning up, and then quickly hiding in his room when he heard April and Casey arrive home.

Leo sighed as he rested his head on the wall. He felt completely helpless…he wondered whether he could help his brothers at all…

It just seemed so hopeless…

He felt so close to just breaking down…

He cursed silently. He was getting depressed again. And depression didn't help at all…

His brothers had cussed at him, telling him how useless and stupid he was, over and over again, until Leo suddenly realized that he _believed _them.

Leo brought his legs up to his body, resting his chin on his knees.

He felt empty again.

**

* * *

_Whew. One more story updated before I go. YES!_**


	6. Leaving Nothing

_Whew. My trip took longer than I expected. Visiting my relatives wasn't that bad, but still. It reminded me (once again) that I did not belong. Oh well._

_Here's the next chapter!_

_**DISCAIMER:** I just own the In the moon's bloody shadow's story plot, nothing else. Just borrowing the characters for my own personal amusement. :grins:_

_And once again, being obligated by my own honor code, I feel the need to warn that this is a **RATED "R" STORY**, just incase someone didn't notice. _

_Also, another warning. This will be a **really** **bloody** chapter, and will **keep** getting bloodier and sadder with each chapter. So, just incase **you** are **unsure** whether or not to keep reading, please **reconsider** and make your own choice. I did not force you to read this, so please no flames. Thank you. :grins:_

_ITALICS in the story mean thoughts.

* * *

_

Chapter 5: _Leaving nothing_

Leo sighed as he opened his eyes. His room was dark and silent. Leo sighed again, before turning his head slowly to his right.

There, on the floor beside his makeshift bed, was a small digital watch glowing weakly in the pitch-black room. It showed 3:15.

Leo turned his head back and looked up at the dark ceiling. He stared at the darkness for a few minutes before sitting up with a groan. His whole body hurt and ached. Leo sat still for a couple of minutes, with his eyes closed, silently willing the pain to disappear.

Once the pain was gone, Leo opened his eyes again. Slowly, ever so slowly, he stood up, but his knees buckled from the pain and Leo fell down onto the mattress again. A painful groan escaped his lips, before he clamped his mouth shut and fell silent, listening for any noise from the other rooms.

When there was none, Leo let out a slow breath that he didn't realize he was holding. He let his head drop before unconsciously beginning to massage his legs.

Leo winced as his hand touched a particularly painful bruise. Leo glanced down at his legs, and let his lips curl upwards just a little, as he saw a faint darker spot on his legs. It was dark, but for the trained eye and one who knew what to look for and where to look, there were big dark bruises everywhere on his body.

Leo closed his eyes as he felt tears creeping down his face. A week had passed since Raph's threat, and his life just kept getting worse.

He spent his days cooking, cleaning, and doing various chores around the place, not to mention doing every little thing his brothers ordered him too. But no matter how hard he tried, he just couldn't avoid being beaten up.

**  
**Leo opened his eyes before slowly moving his hand, which was now resting on his leg, away and placed it onto the wall near him. Pressing gently, Leo shifted his weight so that he could stand.

Once he was on his feet, Leo (still leaning heavily on the wall) gradually made his way over to the faint outline of the door. Once he neared the door, Leo let go of the wall and swayed as he took an uncertain step. Then he hissed in pain.

The foot that he took a step with, his left, had a long and deep cut on the inside of his leg. The cut was still fresh so it naturally hurt.

Leo paused as his hand grazed the doorknob. _Smile._ He thought to himself. _No one'll notice if you smile…_

And Leo found that that was true. When he ran into Casey or April, he had found that his dark green skin easily hid the bruises and the cuts. Unless someone was specifically looking for the bruises or cuts, a person wouldn't notice them. So Leo just smiled and acted like nothing was wrong. And it worked.

Leo smiled.

He grasped the doorknob and twisted it, before opening the door and stepping out. He paused for a second, enjoying the peaceful silence of the early morning.

But he knew that it wouldn't last.

It never does.

He sighed as his feet carried him automatically to the kitchen. It had become a ritual nowadays.

Go to sleep at one.

Wake up at three.

Go to the kitchen.

Make tea.

Sit there and drown in thought.

Leo let his smile widen bitterly. He made so many mistakes in his lifetime. So many, that he couldn't count them anymore. Not that he wanted to be reminded of all his faults…

He automatically opened the cupboard, just like so many times before.

His faults were that he said nothing. Nothing over the years. His brothers had always been open to each other…even Raph.

They had been especially open to him. He had always listened. He knew what they were thinking without them having to say anything. He knew how they would react to things. He knew their fears, their worries…

But he had said nothing.

**  
**He laughed silently as he shook his head, dipping the tealeaves into the hot water.

To think his greatest fault was one that no one would ever think of.

Silence.

And he couldn't do anything about it. He couldn't help them; he couldn't do anything but sit in the corner, in the dark, and just silently watch…

Leo sat down heavily in a vacant chair, cradling the warm cup in his hands. Glancing at the clock, he saw the hand move to show 4:00. Leo looked back down at the cup he cradled.

Only an hour before April and Casey had to go.

Leo slowly took a sip of the tea. He paused as he glanced at his hands. They were the only part of his body that wasn't covered with bruises or cuts.

_

* * *

_

April sighed as she hurriedly combed her hair and put it up into a comfortable position. Then, she quickly smoothed her purple shirt, before quietly opening the bathroom door and stepping out into the silent hallway.

Then, she quickly made her way to the kitchen, eager for her morning coffee. But as she neared the kitchen, she groaned silently as she saw the kitchen light turned _on._

_Leo's awake again._ She thought worriedly. _He's been doing this for about two weeks now. _She sighed before stepping into the kitchen.

"Hey April!" Casey greeted as he shoved the last piece of buttered bread into his mouth.

April smiled. "Hey Casey. Save anything for me?"

Casey grinned before taking a big gulp of coffee. He nodded. "Yep! Just…I forgot where I put it…" He said sheepishly, before taking another big gulp of coffee.

April rolled her eyes.

"It's on the counter beside you, April."

April smiled as she thanked Leo, who was sitting in the far corner of the table. Carefully picking up the cup and the plate, she carried them to the table and sat down next to Leo.

Casey grinned before excusing himself from the table and hurrying to the bathroom.

April shook her head as she took a bite of the bread. Chewing thoughtfully, she swallowed and then looked at Leo. "Leo, I've been meaning to ask, but I have never got around to it. Why are you always up so early?"

Leo smiled gently as he cradled his now empty cup. He knew what she was going to ask. And he was well prepared.

"It's nothing April. Really. I guess I'm just a bit worried about the others to sleep. But don't worry, I'll be fine."

April chuckled as she took a sip of her coffee. "I don't doubt that, Leo. But still. It's not good for someone to chronically be up at the crack of dawn!"

Leo raised an eyebrow. "Like you two?"

April rolled her eyes. "That's different! We come home early and go to sleep before nine!"

Leo chuckled. "Yeah. Sure. If 8 at night is early for you…"

April shot him a playful glare, before standing up and grabbing her empty cup and plate. She placed them into the sink before pausing. "Oh! I almost forgot! Casey and I have this business conference to go to today. But it's in California, so we'll be gone a long time. The conference itself lasts about twelve days."

She shot Leo an apologetic look. "I'm so sorry about forgetting! I thought Casey told you, but Casey, being the idiot he is, forgot as well."

Leo smiled. "It's okay. So you'll be gone for about two weeks?"

April nodded apologetically. "Sorry. But we'll call you when we get there, 'kay?"

Leo nodded. "Don't worry so much, April. Go."

April smiled and walked out of the kitchen.

_

* * *

_

Leo sat in the corner of the kitchen. The long empty cup sat a bit further from him. He had a faint smile on his face.

_April and Casey left an hour ago. Nice…now I won't have to worry so much about them being hurt…_ Leo thought sadly.

Leo raised his head as he heard shuffling in the other rooms. He smiled faintly. His brothers were up.

Leo slowly stood up. Then, he quietly and painfully made his way out of the kitchen, down the hall, and back into his room.

He let out a faint sigh as he closed the door behind him. From experience, he knew that he'd better not be around when his brothers woke up.

Leo looked down at his right arm. There was a brutal slash near his shoulder. He grimly looked away. That had taught him to disappear when his brothers woke up. They would come and (literally) drag him out of his room when they needed him.

He looked around his room before finally making his way slowly over to a small window.

April had quickly made him some black curtains so that no one would be able to see in, because his window, unlike the rest, faced the street.

Leo sat down on to the cold, wooden floor next to the window. There was a small gap between the window and the curtain that he could look through.

Leo smiled peacefully as he watched the streets below him begin to become busy again with tiny people hurrying down the wet roads holding umbrellas in their free hands. Leo leaned his head on the cold wall as he watched the rain begin to pour.

_

* * *

_

Drip. Drip. Drip. Drip.

There was that dripping again.

Leo groaned in irritation as he opened his eyes and was met with darkness. He knew that the dripping was somewhere near, but he couldn't see. The room was too dark.

Suddenly, he felt another presence in the room. Leo jumped and looked around quickly. But he saw nothing.

Suddenly, there was a soft patter of feet and the next second, Leo found himself locked in a hug.

Leo blinked. "Don?" He questioned, before looking down. No. It was Mikey.

Mikey tightened his grip around Leo.

"Don't let us do this to you."

The words echoed in the silent darkness. Leo blinked in surprise.

"Do what? You guys aren't doing anything!"

Mikey didn't look up but tightened his grip even more. Leo bit his lip as his body began to protest.

"Stop it Leo. Stop it!"

"Stop what?"

Mikey finally turned his head and looked into Leo's blue eyes. "Why?"

Leo stared at Mikey. "Why what?"

Mikey just stared at him before disappearing.

Leo stood alone in the darkness. Suddenly, he felt immense pain in his stomach. Groaning, Leo sank down onto his knees.

And woke up.

_

* * *

_

Leo let out a painful groan as he clutched his stomach. Painfully, he looked up at his red-banded brother.

Raph's cold brown eyes met Leo's shocked blue eyes. "That should teach you to not fall asleep when we need you, _slave._"

Leo couched a little and was shocked to feel something wet trickle down his chin. Raising his hand, he touched it and felt it to be warm. Leo didn't need to look at his fingers to know what it was. Blood. How hard had Raph kicked him?

Suddenly, Leo felt immense pain in his right face. He crashed into the wall, before sliding back down to the floor. Now clutching his face, Leo closed his eyes for a few seconds to put himself together.

**  
**All of a sudden, Leo felt a rough hand seize him by his bandana and drag him up. Leo whimpered as his body protested the uncomfortable position.

Raph grinned as he heard the whimper, before turning around and began to drag Leo out of the room.

_

* * *

_**  
**Leo silently scrubbed the floor, careful not to move too fast so that the fresh cut on his arm wouldn't reopen again. 

Letting out a barely audible sigh, Leo shifted himself from fours to a kneeling position. He sat there for a few minutes, before grabbing the rag he was scrubbing with, and dropped it into the bucket next to him.

Groaning, he stood painfully, before grabbing the bucket and carrying it to the sink. After dumping the dirty water out, he placed the bucket into the sink and turned around. He surveyed the floor.

He was done.

But then his eyes caught sight of the trashcan, filled up to the rim with garbage. Leo walked over to it and grabbed the bag before tying it together and heaving it over his shoulder and placing it onto the kitchen floor.

Then, he heaved it once again onto his shoulder and carried it into the end of the hallway. There, he paused at the coat rack and placed the bag onto the ground. Grabbing a coat, he quickly slipped it on, before grabbing a hat and placing that on as well.

Then, he opened the door, grabbed the bag and stepped outside into the deserted apartment hallway.

He quickly made his way down the five flights of stairs, before walking out the open gateway and onto the deserted alley behind the apartment.

There, he quickly found the garbage disposal and heaved the bag into the container.

He paused for a few seconds, before turning around.

He was surprised to see a small child standing not so far from him, a trash bag in hand, just staring at him.

They stared at each other for a few seconds, before the child shifted her foot uncomfortably and looked down at the ground.

"Hey mister."

She said shyly, glancing up a little before looking down again.

Leo didn't say anything for a few more minutes. Finally, "Hi."

He winced at how dry and scratchy his throat was.

The little girl smiled a little before glancing up at him again. "Whatchya doin'?" She asked innocently.

Leo couldn't help but grin. "I was throwing out the trash." He answered kindly.

The girl's smile got bigger. "So'm I!" She stated happily, hinting towards her trashbag.

Leo laughed a little. The child was no more than 7, which he could tell. "I see."

The child giggled before walking over to another container. She stood on her tiptoes and tried to shove it into the container, but it was too high for her.

Leo quickly made his way over to her and helped her lift it into the container.

The girl shot him a playful glare. "I could do that on my own!" She stated. "I'm seven!"

Leo smiled gently. "And my name's Leo. Nice to meet you!"

The child laughed. "No, no silly!" She said, wagging her finger as if Leo was a naughty child. "That's my age!"

The girl thought for a second before looking up at Leo. "By the way, m'name's Emily!"

"Nice to meet you, Emily." Leo answered truthfully. The girl grinned happily, before looking back at the apartment building. "I have to go now. My mommy's waiting."

Leo nodded. "Yes. You'd better go then."

Emily looked at Leo for a second before saying, "I live on the fourth floor, you know."

Leo raised an eyebrow. "Didn't your mommy ever teach you not to tell that kind of information to strangers?"

Emily looked up at Leo, trust shining in her hazel eyes. "Yeah, but you're not a stranger!"

Leo looked down at the child. "I'm not?"

Emily nodded. "Nope. You're called Leo, you're helpful, you're nice, and I like you!"

She stated, before standing up onto her tippytoes and looking deep into Leo's blue eyes.

"And…" She paused. "Your eyes say that you are a good person." She looked at him. "The eyes are the windows to your soul, did you know that?"

Leo looked at her. "No. I did not know that." He replied slowly.

Emily smiled gently while looking at him for a little while before asking, "And where do you live?"

Leo raised an eyebrow. "Is that really any of your business?" He asked gently.

Emily grinned and nodded. "Yeah! I told'ya where I live, now you tell me where you live!"

Leo chuckled quietly. There really _was_ no way to make her understand…

"I live on the fifth floor."

The child's eyes widened with shock. "The fifth!" She repeated, looking horrified.

"Why?" Leo asked, wondering what he said wrong.

Emily stared up at him, wide-eyed. "Mommy and I are the only ones who live on the fourth floor…"

"And?" Leo asked impatiently, all the while dreading the answer.

"And…we hear many noises from the fifth floor…"

"What…what kind of noises?"

Emily hesitated, before leaning closer to Leo, as if telling a secret. "I hear screams. They are quiet and muffled, but I hear them. And sobs too…"

Leo quickly looked away. "You must be hearing things." He quickly said.

The child shook her head. "Uh, uh! Mommy hears 'em too! She just puts on the t.v really loud so that we can't hear 'em!"

Leo, still not looking at the child, said after a few seconds, "Don't you have to go now?"

The child blanked. "OH! I forgot! Sorry mister! I have to go!" She said, before flashing him a smile and running back to the apartment building.

Leo watched her go, before looking down at his arms. Slowly, he drew up the sleeve of his right hand, just enough for him to glimpse a bruise. He took in a shuddering breath, before quickly pulling down the sleeve again.

He turned back towards the apartment building. He would have to be more careful. People are starting to hear stuff. And this could cause **big** trouble.

Leo closed his eyes before smiling. He was outside. He could just turn and run.

And just run.

But then he opened his eyes. He couldn't. He just couldn't abandon his brothers like that! No matter what.

He'll return. He'll go back to the hellhole his home had become. He'll go back and do everything he can to help them.

Leo let a faint smile creep onto his face. No matter what, he'd bring back the brothers he knew and loved.

_

* * *

_

Leo clambered up the stairs slowly and silently. His body was hurting and protesting every step he took. It was cold and he was chilled to the bone.

Luckily, it had not been raining when he was downstairs. But now he could hear the soft pitter-patter of the raindrops again.

Leo paused in front of the door of his home. It was still and silent inside. _That is strange…_He thought to himself. _There should be some noise in there…from the tv or the radio or something._

Leo shivered as he hesitated with opening the door. Something was telling him that he should just turn and run…

But Leo grasped the handle and pushed the door open. He _will not_ turn and run away. Never.

The hallway was dark and silent. Leo looked around cautiously and curiously as he stepped inside and closed the door.

There was no noise.

Leo shrugged and began to take off his hat and coat and hanging them on the coat rack, when a hand suddenly shot out from behind him and covered his mouth. Leo let out a surprised yelp, which was immediately muffled.

The light was suddenly turned on, and Leo squinted at the sudden light. But after his eyes got used to the bright light, he saw Mikey standing near the light switch and Don standing next to Mikey.

And Raph was keeping him in place.

"Took you long enough to come back." Mikey sneered. "You fuckin' piece of shit. Can't you ever keep your goddamn mouth shut!"

Leo felt his blood run cold.

Don rolled his eyes. "You thought you could get away with it? Huh? Don't you know that we watch over your every move?"

Leo stiffened. He knew that they watched him, but he seriously thought that they hadn't seen him and the child talking…

Suddenly it hit him. _Of course._ _The computer room. It has a window from which you can see down there…_ Leo silently groaned. He should've known better.

The hand that muffled him relaxed and let him go. But then grabbed him again and whirled him around.

"What did you say to that little bitch?" Raph growled, glaring at him. Leo looked quickly away and was rewarded by a harsh slap.

"Don't look away when I'm talking to you! You piece of shit!" Raph yelled, raising his hand to hit Leo again.

Leo recoiled but looked at Raph again. "Nothing! I didn't say _anything_ to her!"

Don smirked. "Right. Sure." He said sarcastically. "How old do you think we are? _Five?_"

Mikey stepped towards Leo. "We saw you talking to the bitch. You talked to her a bit too long for you to say _nothing_!" He hissed.

Raph suddenly punched Leo.

Leo, caught unawares, slammed into the coat hanger, knocking it over, breaking one of its hangers.

Leo groaned as he automatically raised a hand to clutch his head. To his uttermost horror, he felt something warm and sticky. Blood.

Raph smirked down at him. "Look what you did _again_. You really are getting out of hand, aren't you? I think you need a little punishment…"

Leo almost laughed out loud. If the abuse wasn't punishment to them, then he was in deep, deep shit.

Leo yelped as he felt strong hands grab him and begin to drag him away.

The pain was so much, Leo began to see darkness eating away at his vision.

He felt a hand let him go. He heard the rattle of keys and a door being slammed open.

Then he felt hands shove him in.

Then, darkness.

* * *

_Well, that's it for Chapter five! Please tune in later for updates and read my other stories! Thank you!_

_Oh, actually, there is a song that is one of my favorites, it's "Nowhere Kids" and I forgot who's it by, but there is a sentence I agree with, 100. It's, and I quote, 'No one gives a shit, as long as we smile.'_

'_Cause no one does give a shit, as long as we smile. So smile! )_


	7. Only Sadness

_**DISCAIMER:** I just own the In the moon's bloody shadow's story plot, nothing else. Just borrowing the characters for my own personal amusement. Grins._

_Here, once again is my own honor code, making me feel the need to warn that this is a **RATED "R" STORY**, just incase someone didn't notice. Blinks. Stares. Who'd be that dense?_

_Also, another warning. Sighs. (Honor code.) This will be a **really** **bloody** chapter, and will **keep** getting bloodier and sadder with each chapter. . _

_ITALICS in the story mean thoughts._

Chapter 6: _Only Sadness_

Leo let out a soft moan as he started coming to. His head was pounding. Opening his eyes painfully, Leo realized two things. One, it was dark. Two, he was lying on the floor.

Leo carefully began sitting up, before realizing that that small movement only increased the pain in his head. Leo groaned as he succumbed into unconsciousness once again.

_&&&&&_

Leo slowly came aware to someone walking by. Leo contemplated shouting, but he quickly realized that his throat was too raw and scratchy to make a noise. Leo shifted his head into a more comfortable position, before wincing as he felt pain in his head.

Leo laid there for a couple of minutes? Seconds? Hours? Leo didn't know. He completely lost track of time.

_He didn't know where he was and what time or day it was. How long had he been here?_

_The head wound seems to be fresh. It's still bleeding…_ Leo thought as he felt something warm and sticky slide down the back of his head. _So I'm guessing I've not been here that long…At most a day…_

Leo paused in his thoughts as he heard someone passing by again. Leo listened and realized who was walking by, by his footsteps alone. _Raph._

Leo winced as he remembered what had happened.

_They threw him somewhere. But where was somewhere?_

Leo let out a slow breath as he lay there. _It hurt too much to move, god. It even hurt to think!_

He sighed again as he closed his eyes. _There was nothing to do but wait until the pain lessened and then he would find out where he was_…

_&&&&&_

Leo opened his eyes once again. He didn't know how long he'd been lying here, dozing, waking to the occasional sound of his brothers walking by.

Suddenly, he became aware that his head wasn't hurting anymore. The bleeding had stopped as well.

Leo smiled before raising his head, just a little, to test if it hurt. _No. There was a faint pounding, but he could bare that…_

He slowly sat up, wincing at his many bruises and cuts. Leo let out a slow breath before leaning back onto the wall. _Wait. A wall?_

Leo painfully raised an arm before feeling backwards. _Yes. It was a wall. And from the feel of it, it was thick._ He felt around a little, before his hand hit a corner. _Interesting. Either he was really close to another wall, or where they had thrown him was a rather small room…_

Leo shifted a little closer to the corner and felt around again. _God, it was so dark!!! He couldn't even see his hand in front of his face!!!_

_No room he had been in was **this** dark!!!_

Suddenly, it hit him_. No _**_room_**. _He wasn't in a room…_

At that moment, his hand hit something wooden. Feeling upwards a little, he felt something cool sticking out. Grasping it, he felt it. It was a doorknob.

Feeling a small wave of happiness and hope, Leo grasped it and tried to turn it. But the doorknob refused to turn.

The small hope he felt was immediately crushed. _Damn. It was locked_.

He felt the doorknob again before realizing something. _It was locked on the outside…_

It hit him, then. _They had locked him into a closet._

Leo let his hand drop. _He was done for._

He became dimly aware that the footsteps were coming his way again. He waited for them to pass on by, but they stopped right in front of his door.

Leo felt his breath hitch as he heard some keys clinking and the doorknob rattling. Then the door was brutally yanked open. Leo was dimly surprised that the door didn't fly off its hinges…

The sudden light blinded him and Leo quickly raised an arm to shield his eyes as he tried to adjust to the light.

But a rough hand grabbed his arm and yanked him up before shaking him. Leo squeezed his eyes shut as he felt his headache coming back again.

He became dimly aware of someone yelling at him to look at him. But Leo kept his eyes shut.

He heard cursing and then he was dropped onto the floor. Leo let out a shaky breath as his head hit the cold hard floor. He felt his head begin to bleed again.

Suddenly, he felt pain in his stomach and ribs. Slowly, dimly, he grasped what was happening. He was being brutally kicked.

Leo coughed and felt something warm trickle down his chin before exhaustion and pain dragged him into unconsciousness once again.

_That's the end of chapter six!!!! Almost done folks!!!! Just four more chapters!!!!!_

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	8. Self Blaming

_**DISCAIMER:** I just own the In the moon's bloody shadow's story plot, nothing else. Just borrowing the characters for my own personal amusement. Grins._

_Here, once again is my own honor code, making me feel the need to warn that this is a **RATED "R" STORY**, just incase someone didn't notice. Blinks. Stares. Who'd be that dense?_

_**Okay, well, this chapter…I don't know how to phrase this…um…will be disturbing. Not in a "disturbing" sense, but by a bloody gory disturbing way. Grr…Just read it and you'll see what I mean.**. _

ITALICS in the story mean thoughts.

Chapter 7: _Self-blaming_

A few days had passed by.

At least, that was what Leo thought so. He could barely distinguish night from day, hour from minute, and hunger from pain. He knew he was famished, but it had been so long since he had a normal meal, that he stopped knowing what hunger was.

His dreams were nothing. He just lay in a void; empty of pain, hunger, sadness, and all emotions. He just laid there, not really conscious, drifting between the two borders of conscious and unconsciousness.

Sometimes he heard someone walk past the closet; sometimes someone would come in, throw him a piece of bread or something, or beat him up, or drag him to the bathroom.

_Well,_ Leo mused, _at least I get to go to the bathroom, even if its once a day. At least I get fed._

He remembered seeing something on the news…when was it? A year ago? Jeez. It would help if he knew the day…but he had heard of this kid being found locked up in a basement, starved to death, and he wasn't even let out to go to the bathroom or clean himself.

Leo wrinkled his nose. _Poor kid._ He thought. _It must've been a horrid sight…_

He lay there drifting in his thoughts, not even noticing footsteps halting in front of the closet door.

Leo yelped and winced as light suddenly flooded the tiny closet. Blinking furiously, he saw the outline of one of his brothers, and an orange blur near his head. Mikey.

Leo dully wondered what he wanted. To beat him up? Make lunch (or dinner or whatever)? He'd already been dragged to the bathroom…

He heard Mikey let out a huff in disgust as his eyes looked down at him. Then, as if Leo was a disease or something, Mikey poked him with his foot. "Ya alive?" He asked, sounding as if he didn't really care either way.

Leo shifted a little backwards to the wall as an answer.

Mikey let out an annoyed sigh. "Great." He muttered to himself, then he looked down at Leo again. "Get up."

Leo could've laughed at that request if he wasn't so damn tired. His whole body ached and throbbed in pain. He couldn't feel his left leg, and he was just too goddamn weak. How the bloody hell was he supposed to get up?

"I'm not going to ask again. GET UP." Mikey hissed, his voice dropping to a venomous tone.

Leo contemplated for a few seconds, weighing his chances, before deciding that it would be easier to stand.

Slowly, painfully, Leo got up.

Mikey let a satisfied grin onto his face. "Good. Now get going." He snapped, pointing to the door.

Leo blinked. Was he finally being let go?

Mikey obviously noticed some little ray of hope glittering in his eyes, for he grinned wickedly. "Idiot. The phone's ringing. And it's April."

Leo almost let out a groan. Of course. What should he expect? His brothers obviously saw him as some little bug, not fit to be in their sights and would have liked nothing better than to squish him, but they didn't dare as long as April and Casey could find out.

Leo stepped outside, before heading to the kitchen, limping a bit. The only goddamn phone was in the kitchen, and he could hear it ringing.

The kitchen seemed a lot further away than Leo remembered. _Come to think of it,_ Leo thought tiredly, _walking takes a lot more energy than I remembered…how long was I in there?_

Stepping into the kitchen, he saw Don sitting on the counter, holding a cup of coffee, looking pretty irritated. Raph was sitting in a chair, his feet up on the table, sharpening his sais, and looking as if he would've liked nothing better than to drive one of them right through the telephone.

Not realizing that he stopped, Leo was jolted back from his thoughts by a painful hit in the head by Mikey's nunchucku. "Pick the fuckin' phone up already!" Mikey growled.

Leo nodded absentmindedly, and limped over to the phone before picking it up. "Hello?"

He heard Raph shift and put down his feet. Out of the corner of his eye, Leo saw Raph stand up and move closer to him, a sai in hand.

He knew what it meant. Pretend that nothing was happening. Everything is fine…

"**_Leo?" _** He heard a familiar voice ask. Despite himself, Leo smiled a little.

"Hey April." He greeted quietly, but not too quietly, so that his brothers could hear.

"_**Hey! Sorry for not calling for about a week! It's been so hectic over here in California…"**_

_A week? Was that how long…? _ Leo thought to himself in surprise. But he answered anyways as if nothing was wrong.

"It's okay April. So, how are you?"

"I'm fine, how about you? You sound a little hoarse…" 

Leo froze. He heard his brothers shift a little closer, and felt the presence of danger. Panicking, Leo said the first thing that came to his mind. "The cold weather…You know, it's still raining and all…must've caught a little cold…"

_Please believe me…please…If there is a God, please make her believe me…_Leo prayed silently.

"**_Oh. Yeah. Well, it's nice and sunny in California—"_** April continued chattering about this and that, while Leo just let out an inaudible breath. _Thank you, God. If there is one…_

Finally, after a good five minutes of April chattering and Leo nodding and agreeing, Leo saw Don signaling him to end the call.

"Um…April?" Leo interrupted. "Look, I really gotta go…I appreciate the call and all, though."

There was a pause and Leo thought that she had hung up on him or something, when, **_"Oh. Okay. See ya Leo! We'll be back in a week or so…"_**

Leo was about to hang up when April spoke again. **_"Leo? I just wanna ask you…are the guys treating you okay? I mean, nothing's wrong, is there?"_**

April sounded really worried.

Leo froze once again. His heart almost skipped a beat. He saw his brothers stand a little straighter, fingering their weapons. He gulped. "No…no. Everything's fine."

He barely heard April's **_"Oh, okay."_** and her hanging up as his heart slowed down from its rapid pace. He hung up.

Turning around, Leo almost jumped out of his skin. His brothers were all standing around him, in a semi-circle, blocking his escape. They had their weapons drawn.

"So." Don began.

Leo waited for Don to continue, but after a few minutes (which seemed like hours) of silence, Leo timidly asked, "So?"

'WHACK!' 

The next thing Leo knew was that he was on the floor, with a bloody lip and a new bruise.

Don glared at him, lowering his Bo staff. "_DON'T _ YOU **EVER** TALK BACK TO ME!" He yelled. "AND DON'T YOU ACT ALL _INNOCENT, _CAUSE THAT'S ALL BULLSHIT! WHAT THE BLOODY HELL DID YOU TELL THEM!"

Leo slowly shook his head, feeling another headache coming on. "I didn't tell them—"

A hand shot out and grabbed his neck. Leo choked and grabbed the hand, trying to yank it off.

Raph just tightened his grip. "Don't you dare. You fuckin' insignificant, piece of shit. You liar. You idiot. You goddamn bastard. We take care of you, we keep you in fairly good conditions, and you go and BLAB about some fuckin' shit we do to you, that you fuckin' deserve!"

Raph hissed, before loosening his grip on Leo's neck, and then swiftly backhanding him. "We've been too goddamn patient with you. We've kept your _punishments_ to a minimum!"

Leo clutched his cheek, feeling panic rising with every word. But at that last sentence, he felt a stab of pure, undiluted, fear. _Those things they've been doing to me was a MINIMUM! Oh, shit, shit, shit. If I make it to see next week, I'll count myself the most LUCKIEST person on this PLANET!_

Suddenly, he was jolted out of thought by a flash of silver in front of his face, then, intense pain in his right cheek.

Leo immediately raised his hand and pressed it against his cheek, feeling blood pour out from the fresh cut. He glanced up at Raph.

Raph twirled his bloody sai thoughtfully. "Ya know…" He began calmly, but with a hint of venom in his voice, "We _were_ going to let ya out, but since ya seem to want to _blab_ so much, we can't let ya out…"

Leo paled even more. He didn't want to go back into that room…

But his heart almost stopped when Don spoke up. "Ya know, I thing _he _needs a little _reminder_ to not go blabbing…"

Leo shivered. The way Don said that hinted of something evil…

Raph grinned. "Good _idea_, Don."

Suddenly, Raph grabbed Leo by his shell and yanked him to his feet, before whirling Leo around and twisting his left arm back.

Leo let out a soft cry in pain as he felt his arm being twisted into a rather painful position.

Raph grinned, before forcing Leo to walk towards the stove. Leo paled as he realized what Raph was going to do.

He could hear Mikey and Don sniggering behind his back, and saying cruel things about him…

_I should've been there…when the Shredder attacked…_Leo thought sadly as he felt the heat of the stove. _Maybe if I had been there, then this would never be happening! But—no. _ Leo interrupted himself. _Even though the Shredder's evil and all, he can't be the reason for everything…Maybe this time, my bros are right and it IS my fault…_

Leo broke off as he was jerked to a halt by Raph. Raph grinned before nodding for Mikey and Don to come over. They grinned and quickly came.

They quickly pinned his right arm to his side and forced him to stand still, while Raph (who had by now let him go) gripped his left hand all the tighter.

Raph shot Leo a cruel grin as he yanked Leo's hand forward and pressed it down onto the hot iron of the stove.

Leo opened his mouth to scream, but Mikey's hand quickly muffled the yell.

Leo, for his part, felt the pain being too much. And immediately, his vision began to darken and he slowly sank towards the floor.

His brothers let him. They laughed and taunted as he gasped in pain. "You're so _weak._"

Leo heard that. He would've smiled if he weren't in so much pain. _Yes._ He mentally agreed. _I'm weak…_

Then all went dark.

__

_Three more chapters! YAY!_

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**


	9. And A Hopeless Idea

_**DISCAIMER:** I just own the In the moon's bloody shadow's story plot, nothing else. Just borrowing the characters for my own personal amusement. Grins._

_Here, once again is my own honor code, making me feel the need to warn that this is a **RATED "R" STORY**, just incase someone didn't notice. Blinks. Stares. Who'd be that dense?_

_**Okay, well, this chapter…I don't know how to phrase this…um…will be disturbing. Not in a "disturbing" sense, but by a bloody gory disturbing way. Grr…Just read it and you'll see what I mean.**. _

_ITALICS_ in the story mean thoughts.

Chapter 8: _And A Hopeless Idea_

Darkness.

Shadows.

Drip. Drip. Drip.

"That dripping again…" Leo whispered, his voice echoing.

"You still don't know?"

Leo jumped at the sudden voice and whirled around.

Raph was standing a few feet away from him, just looking sadly at him.

Leo hesitated. He had never seen Raph so sad and…_broken._

"Don't know what?" Leo whispered, before wincing openly. He wasn't allowed to ask questions…damn. He forgot.

But Raph just stood there, before turning his head sideways and looking out the window.

"You know…" Raph began, not yet looking back at Leo. "We aren't really supposed to be here. Not you, and definitely not us."

Leo blinked. "'Us?'"

"Yeah. 'Us'."

Leo jumped again at the new voice, before seeing Don and Mikey standing a few feet away from Raph.

Leo shifted uncomfortably. Why were his brothers being so nice all of a sudden?

Don glanced at the floor before looking back up at Leo. "What Raph's trying to say, is that you need to stop."

"'Stop?'" Leo repeated in confusion. What was going on?

Don nodded. "You can't keep fooling yourself." He said blatantly, before hinting towards the dark room. "_This_ reality won't help you…or _us_…in the **real** world."

The headache Leo felt coming on, became bigger. "Wha?"

Raph suddenly strode over to Leo, who jumped at the sudden move and shrank back. But Raph grabbed his shoulders and shook him.

"Snap outta it! You idiot! Don't you get it! Don't you ever think of yourself?"

Leo swallowed the sudden lump of fear rising up, and shook his head in confusion. "I think of myself…all the time…"

Raph, at that, let Leo go. Leo automatically stepped backwards and brought his arms to hug himself. He shot a quick glance at Raph, before doing a double-take.

Raph's head was bowed, his shoulders slumped and _shaking_.

Leo stared, before taking a hesitant step forward, his brotherly instinct getting the better of him. "Raph?"

Raph's head suddenly shot up, and Leo was shocked to see that Raph was _crying._

"GODDAMN IT, LEO!" He yelled, before slowly calming down. "Goddamn you…for being such a _selfless_ idiot…" He whispered, before slowly sinking to his knees.

Leo shook his head in bewilderment, before crouching down before Raph. "Raph?" He whispered, placing a shaking hand on Raph's shoulder.

Suddenly, Leo snatched his hand away. Something wet was trickling down his hand…

Holding it up, Leo saw that something trickled down his hand, before a droplet fell to the floor.

Drip.

Leo stared, before looking down at his chest. There, he could see dark scars running down his chest, legs, and arms. There were dark splotches trickling down from them, before dripping down onto the floor.

Leo shook his head in surprise. _Blood._

Drip. Drip. Drip.

"Do you understand now, Leo?"

Leo straightened and looked at Don, before looking back at his arms again.

"This _reality_ that you've created, is an escape…Please. Don't this to yourself." Don begged, taking a step towards Leo.

Leo shook his head and stepped backwards, still staring at his arms.

"Please…out there, in the **real** world, we're hurting you…stop denying it. Stop saying we'll change. Stop denying the _facts._ _**We're abusing you, Leo!**"_

But Leo kept shaking his head. "No." He whispered, wincing as his voice cracked. "No! It…it…was an accident! You know how clumsy I can be!"

Leo closed his eyes, clamped his hands over his ears, and kept murmuring over and over again, "It was an accident…accident…accident…"

O...O

Leo opened his eyes, first aware that he was still muttering _"accident"_ in a hushed tone.

Secondly, he became aware that his hands hurt. He blinked before squinting in the dark to look at his hands.

They were burned.

Leo sighed. He had hoped that it had been a bad dream.

He looked around again, before realizing that he was back in the cupboard again. _Damn._ Leo thought, before becoming aware that footsteps were nearing.

He waited patiently, not really caring that the footsteps had stopped in front of the cupboard; he deserved it all.

Leo closed his eyes lazily as light flooded into the room, not even bothering to open it, when he felt a sharp jab in his stomach.

"Get up, you fuckin' lazy bastard. You've been out for almost a whole week!"

Leo let out an inaudible sigh before opening his eyes. Dimly, he realized that Raph was standing above him, glaring down at him.

Dully, he wandered how the bloody hell he had survived for a week. Then again, how had he lived for so long? Life was just too complicated sometimes.

Leo let out a muffled groan, as he was kicked, hard, in his stomach. He curled up in a fetal position, trying to make the pain go away.

He heard Raph laugh at him, before he felt himself being dragged to his feet. Leo groaned in pain, but somehow managed to keep from collapsing.

Raph swiftly backhanded him. "Wake up and get movin'. April and Casey are gonna be here in five hours, and we can't have you lookin' like shit."

Leo nodded absentmindedly, knowing that that was what Raph wanted him to do. Then, he slowly walked out of the cupboard and turned left down the hall.

Limping slowly, scarcely feeling the pain, he made it to the end of the hall and to the bathroom.

He could feel Raph breathing down his neck; watching, waiting.

Opening the door, he stepped inside, before turning back a little to look at Raph. Raph smirked. "Clean up, you fuckin' bitch. You have five minutes. I'll be back."

With that, Raph slammed the door shut. Leo jumped a bit, before turning back around.

He didn't bother locking the door, knowing that Raph would just kick the door down.

Leo sighed, before glancing at his mirror image. He froze. Then he looked back at the mirror.

"Good god…" He whispered, staring.

His face was literally black and blue, swollen, and there was an ugly scar running down his left side of his face. There were dark finger marks on his neck, there were finger marks and bruises on his shoulders, there were scars and bruises all over his chest, burn marks on his hands. There was basically no portion of his body that was NOT covered with either scars or bruises.

There was also dried blood everywhere on him.

Leo wrinkled his nose. He looked absolutely horrid. He took a step towards the mirror, before stretching out an arm and gently touching his reflection as if trying to see if it was really _his_ reflection.

All of a sudden, the door burst open and banged on the wall. Leo jumped backwards, whirling towards the door. Raph stood there, grinning.

"You said I had five minutes…" Leo whispered, before realizing that he shouldn't have said anything.

Raph's eyes narrowed a little, but he kept a sickeningly pleasant smile on his face. "I lied." He replied sweetly, before jumping forward and grabbing Leo by the throat. Leo let out a choked cry, before Raph threw him backwards.

Leo staggered, before his foot hit the edge of the bathtub and he fell backwards, hitting his head hard on the bathtub's wall.

"Ow…" Leo whimpered, opening his eyes painfully and looking up at Raph, who by now was standing beside the bathtub.

"When I say to 'clean up' I mean for YOU to TAKE a BATH, NOT STARE AT YOUR PATHETIC REFLECTION!" Raph roared, before backhanding Leo again harshly.

Then, Raph smiled. "So, since you're so goddamn incapable of even doing _that_ right, I'm gonna _help_ you…"

With that, Raph turned on the water.

Leo howled in pain as scorching hot water rained down on him. Raph let out a cruel laugh. "Whoops." He said cruelly, before turning off the hot water and instead turning on the cold water.

Leo yelped as the water suddenly switched to icy cold water. He tried to grab the tub's edge, to climb out or something, but Raph pushed him back in.

"Oooh, no. You had a good two minutes to start bathing, and instead you stared at your goddamn reflection. Now, you're gonna take a bath…_my way."_

Leo shivered and sneezed as he felt the icy cold water start to rise up in the tub. His whole body was going numb…

Raph snickered. "Too cold? Too bad." He hissed, before grabbing Leo again by the neck, and dunking him underwater.

Leo immediately choked and began to thrash around, trying to fight Raph off and get some air.

But Raph just laughed and kept a tight hold on Leo.

Finally, when Leo thought that it was all over, Raph let him go and Leo splashed up onto the surface. Taking in big gulps of air and coughing up the water he swallowed, Leo tried to sit up.

But Raph grabbed him again and pushed him under.

O...O

Leo, after five minutes of being dunked underwater, was finally allowed to get out of the bathtub.

The water had, by now, turned a rusty crimson. And Leo was standing beside the tub, shivering and dripping wet.

He reached towards the rack that held the towels, but his hand was smacked away by Raph.

"Don't waste those on yourself." Raph snapped, but threw Leo a kitchen rag. "Dry your goddamn self on _that._"

With that, Raph turned and left.

Leo stared after him, before looking at the rag with disdain.

O...O

Leo sat at the table, enjoying a cup of tea and a dry crust of bread for the first time in two weeks, when the door opened and he heard two voices arguing.

"_God!_ What the bloody hell did you pack in here woman?"

"Hey! Don't go blaming me! You were the one who wanted to be a 'gentleman' and carry my bag! So why're you complaining?"

"'Cause I ain't know that it was _this_ goddamn heavy!"

Leo laughed a little to himself. "Hey Casey! Hey April!" He greeted, making his way to the hallway and the front door.

Casey glanced at him as he set down the bag. "Hey Leo. How're-Good lord." He whispered, seeing Leo's face.

April looked at Casey, before looking at Leo. She gasped. "Oh. My. God….Leo! What ever happened to your face!"

Leo winced outwardly, earning a worried look from both April and Casey. "Nothing…" He said, smiling. "It was an accident…you know how clumsy I can be…"

Casey looked hard at Leo. "No, we don't. If it was Mikey, then I'd be like 'okay. Be more careful…' but you ain't Mikey. Hell, if it were even Raph or Don who were saying that, I'd probably believe them, but YOU? There ain't no way."

April nodded. "Casey's right, Leo. You are the last person I'd expect to be clumsy. If anything, you're far from it…and anyways, those bruises and cut don't look like an accident…" Her eyes narrowed. "What are you hiding, Leo?"

Leo quickly turned from them. "Nothing! I swear!"

Casey quickly reached out to put a hand on Leo's shoulder, but to both April's and Casey's surprise, Leo flinched and jumped away, shielding his face.

Casey stepped back, trying to register what just happened. Then it clicked. "It's them, right? It's the others…they've been abusing you…right?"

"NO!" Leo snapped, a little too quickly.

April clasped her hands over her mouth. "I've always thought there was something that changed…but this?"

Leo shook his head, backing away. "No, they've been good…they hadn't been doing anything to me…" he stated desperately, knowing that he was fighting a loosing war.

Casey saw that if Leo would back anymore, he would hit a wastebasket, and he jumped forward, his arms outstretched.

Leo freaked at this. He didn't realize that he was going to back into a wastebasket, but thought that Casey was going to attack him. Leo stepped hurriedly backwards, shielding his face, tripped over the basket and sprawled over the ground.

Casey and April ran to help him up, but Leo completely freaked and curled up into a fetal position, shielding his head with his arms, muttering apologies.

Both Casey and April stopped. They just stared at Leo, before looking at each other with fear evident in their eyes. "Leo?"

Leo cautiously looked over his arms, wandering why he wasn't getting beaten up. He blinked as he heard his name being called again, before he looked at April, alarmed. She had tears silently falling down her face. "Oh Leo…" She whispered.

Leo quickly stood up. "Don't cry…" He whispered, knowing that she'll just cry harder. And she did.

Suddenly, Leo heard something behind him shift. Leo yelped and whirled around. Behind him stood Raph, Don, and Mikey.

Leo blinked. He could've sworn he had seen a red glint in their eyes.

Then it all clicked.

And a plan started forming in his mind…

_Two more chapters! Almost done folks!_

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	10. Creating Shadows

_**DISCAIMER:** I just own the In the moon's bloody shadow's story plot, nothing else. Just borrowing the characters for my own personal amusement. Grins._

_Here, once again is my own honor code, making me feel the need to warn that this is a **RATED "R" STORY**, just incase someone didn't notice. Blinks. Stares. Who'd be that dense?_

_Okay people! Nearly done! Anyways, this and the next chapter won't be as bloody as the previous chapters were, but there is a lot of mental and emotional abuse and hurt in these two chapters. Anyways, here's the chapter._

_ITALICS in the story mean thoughts.

* * *

_

Chapter 9: _Creating shadows_

Leo knew what he had to do. He knew the plan. Call it a hopeless idea, come up as a last resort, but still…it _was_ a plan…

But first, he had to deal with the current situation…. Leo blinked and looked at his brothers, uncomfortably.

They were staring at them coldly. Raph suddenly smirked.

Leo shifted backwards uncomfortably. Whenever Raph smirked, that meant something really bad. He gulped.

"You can never keep your goddamn mouth shut, can you?" Raph asked pleasantly.

Leo almost jumped out of his skin at that. He was dead. Literally.

Casey stared. "Oh come on…you don't think that Leo _told_ us, did ya?"

Don rolled his eyes. "Of course not…" He replied, his voice dripping with sarcasm. "That's why we're berating him!"

April shuddered at the sudden coldness in the turtle. "Don…lay off Leo…he didn't do anything…" She said, trying to keep her voice from quivering.

Don laughed. "Idiot bitch." He hissed.

Both April and Casey started. Leo sighed and massaged his temples with one burnt hand. He hoped that it wouldn't go so far.

"WHAT did you say to her!" Casey growled, his hands curling into a fist.

Raph raised an eyebrow. "He called her an 'idiot bitch.' So? What's your fuckin' problem?"

Casey stood there dumbstruck. April blinked before timidly speaking up. "Please, stop cursing…"

Raph's eyes flashed and he raised his hand to strike April, but Leo quickly jumped forward and grabbed Raph's hand, forcing it back down. "Raph…" Leo whispered, "Calm down…"

Raph's eyes darkened, before he yanked his hand back; then he struck Leo hard across the face. "Who the bloody hell gave _you_ permission to speak, _slave_?"

Leo staggered back, clutching the place where Raph had just hit him.

Casey suddenly started forward and pushed Raph back. "What the hell's YOUR problem? And what's all this about Leo bein' your slave? Huh? And what's up with you _abusing_ him?"

Mikey sniggered. "_Abusing?_ Now that's funny. We're just putting Leo back in his place. Someone's gotta do it…so why not us? He's an annoying bastard anyways."

Leo flushed with shame as he lowered his head and studied the floor, unable to look at April and Casey.

April shook her head in disbelief. "'Putting Leo back in his place…'?" She repeated, astounded.

Casey reddened as he sucked in a breath. "I'm gonna ask again…WHAT IN GOD'S NAME IS GOING ON HERE?" He bellowed.

Don shrugged. "God's got nothing to do with it."

Casey, for the second time in five minutes, was struck silent.

April, however, spoke up. "I knew that you guys had changed…but _this_ much?"

Mikey laughed. "It's for the better, bitch. Someone's gotta keep you guys from getting

too egotistical on us!"

April stood dumbstruck. "Egotistical?" She repeated, before shaking her head. "None of us are egotistical…especially not Leo!"

Mikey shook his head, still laughing. "And that's where you're wrong, bitch."

Casey suddenly stepped forward, his hands in fists. "Okay…I've had ENOUGH. Sure, I'm egotistical sometimes, but April and Leo? NEVER."

Raph rolled his eyes. "Who gives? Besides—"

Leo winced. Whenever Raph said 'besides' that meant something really, really bad. He'd better intervene. "Umm…guys? Can we please just forget this?" He stated timidly.

Casey rounded towards him. "Leo! C'mon! Don't tell me that you're still shielding 'em? They ain't deserve that!"

Leo shook his head. "Please, Casey…they're my brothers."

April burst into tears at that; while Casey stood still, fuming, but said nothing.

Leo, then, turned to look at his brothers. "Let's go. I think we overstayed…"

April looked up, her eyes wide, and Casey started. "Wha? What?"

Leo smiled sadly as he looked at them again. "I'm really sorry, but I don't think that we should stay…You've both been really kind and helpful during the past few weeks, and I don't know how we can repay you…" Leo said quietly, bowing low to them. "But…do you mind if we leave Master Splinter? I don't think I could take care of him…"

"S…s…sure…" April stuttered, completely bewildered.

"But Leo—" Casey started, but Leo cut him off.

"Don't, Casey. I know what I'm doing…I'm sorry, but please don't."

Raph, who'd been standing quietly, finally snapped. "And who the bloody hell gave you the right to decide, freak?"

Leo whirled around quickly, and grabbed Raph by the shell and quickly dragged him out the door, which was still open.

Don and Mikey quickly followed, eager to give Leo a piece of their minds, but not daring to incase he hurt Raph.

Casey called after them, but they were already gone. April just stood dumbstruck.

* * *

Leo didn't know where he was going, but he kept a firm grip on Raph as he dragged him away from the apartment complex.

Night had already fallen, so the shadows hid them well. A cold north wind blew in their faces, mixed with icy rain.

Leo shivered, before turning and dragging Raph into a small alley. There, he let Raph go.

Don and Mikey quickly jumped forward to check if he hadn't hurt Raph. Leo, meanwhile staggered and leaned against the alley wall, before sliding down into a sitting position.

Great. He was here. But now what? He'd run away, dragged his brothers with him, and now was stuck in an alley with howling wind and rain all around them.

Leo shivered as he let out a soft breath and watched it slowly rise up and disappear. At least the alley protected them a little of the wind.

Leo cringed as three shadows fell over him. Looking up, he was greeted by a swift punch in the face. Leo hissed in pain as his head snapped back and hit the cold alley wall.

"_That's_ for kidnapping me." Raph hissed. "And _this_—"

Raph raised his foot and swiftly brought it down onto Leo's outstretched foot. Leo bit his lip as he heard a nasty 'crunch!' in his ankle.

"-_this_ is for dragging us out into the cold…"

But Leo wasn't listening. He tried to draw his leg up closer to his body, but a huge jolt of pain shot up his leg. But that wasn't what shook him up; what happened next, shook him up.

Raph's voice suddenly changed into a harsh, cold tone. "…You've lasted longer than I thought, turtle."

Leo's head shot up and he stared into Raph's glowing red eyes. Leo suddenly smirked as he saw all his brothers had glowing red eyes. "I should have known to trust my instincts."

"But you didn't and now you've fallen, freak."

Leo chuckled, despite the pain. "No, not yet. I haven't fallen yet…"

Raph raised his head a little higher, a sick smile on his face. "No? Well, I would've thought otherwise…"

Leo's laughter grew. "No…" He said. "I'm not broken yet. Besides, I still have a deal."

Raph's red eyes flashed. "A deal?" He hissed, amused. "And what position do you have for a deal?"

"I know what you want. I know your plan. And I'm willing to trade…"

* * *

_One more chapter! Almost done folks!_


	11. Which Surrounds Us All

_**DISCAIMER:** I do not own anything._

_OKAY PEOPLE: This is officially the LAST chapter of 'In the Moon's Bloody Shadow.' I'd like to thank everyone whose taken the time to read and review it. _

_Now, I'd like to mention that this chapter will have little-or-no blood content or abuse content in it. However, it will have 100 of emotional abuse in it and emotional torture. (That, I'd like to add, is the WORST. I get it at home…)_

_Also, thoughts are in ITALICS,

* * *

_

Chapter 10: _Which surrounds us all._

(ten seconds earlier)

April just stood there, silent tears trickling down her face. Casey was still standing in the doorway, staring wide-eyed down the stairs.

"They're gone…" Casey murmured, more to himself than to April.

Casey suddenly whirled around and struck the wall with his fists. "DAMN!" He yelled, punching the wall repeatedly.

April quickly jumped forward and grabbed Casey's fists as he tried to punch the wall again. "Stop it Casey! This isn't helping!"

Casey shrugged, before dropping his hands. "It's making me feel a whole lot better." He growled, looking away.

April sighed. "I know…I know…But it won't bring Leo back…or Raph—"

Casey's eyes flashed and he grabbed April. "DON'T EVER SAY THAT NAME!"

He bellowed, before he quickly let go of April. "Sorry…" He whispered. "But don't ever mention _that_ **_thing's_** name AGAIN."

April felt new tears make way down her face. "Casey…I won't deny that the others and Raph—"

Casey glared at her. "DON'T—"

"CASEY! I KNOW YOU'RE ANGRY…heck…I'm angry too…" April stated, calming down a little. "But THEY still are OUR FRIENDS and NO MATTER WHAT, we're going to find out what the hell's going on!"

Casey's eyes hardened and he turned away from April. "Go find out yourself. **_They_** aren't my friends anymore."

April lowered her head and let out a choked sob. "Fine…fine. But we still got to at least help Leo. Or is he and Master Splinter 'not your friend anymore'?"

Casey froze. He slowly turned back around; his shoulders drooped in silent surrender. "Fine. We're helping Leo, but ONLY because Leo needs help. Then, we're forgetting Raph and the others-" He spat the names as if they were curse words, "Only Leo and Master Splinter I'm willing to call 'friend'."

April opened her mouth to say something, when they heard a soft 'thump!' in a room down the hall.

April and Casey glanced at each other, before rushing there, completely forgetting about the still open door.

* * *

Casey quickly opened the door, so that it bounced back from the wall. Inside, the room was dark and the curtains were billowing with a freezing wind and icy rain. 

Casey quickly scanned the room, before noticing a small heap on the floor. He gasped. "Splinter?"

April quickly shoved her way past Casey and knelt beside the fallen master.

Splinter smiled at them, before greeting April. "Ms. O'Neil…how nice it is to see you again!"

April smiled through a tear-streaked face. "You're awake…" She whispered, before hugging the old rat.

Splinter started at the sudden show of affection, but smiled nonetheless. "Ms. O'Neil, I must ask…" Splinter trailed off as he looked into April's eyes. "Where are my sons? I—"

At the word 'sons', Casey made a sudden move, his eyes flashing. Splinter glanced at him for a second, before continuing. "I feel a dark presence…especially around my eldest…Please, I must see them!"

April quickly exchanged a look with Casey, before slowly saying, "They…are not here at the moment…I…don't know where they are…"

Splinter's ears twitched. They were hiding something… something very important…but he needed to find his sons first…

"No matter." He said. "I can sense them…they are not far away…"

With that, the old master stood up, leaning on April for support.

April looked at the old rat. "But Master Splinter! Are you sure you're well enough to walk?"

Splinter looked at her. "I am…for this."

* * *

Leo stood silently on the rooftops, trying very hard to ignore the blatant stares of his brothers at him. 

Leo heaved a sigh. He'd been standing here for a good ten minutes without even a sign of him.

_Stupid…stupid, stupid, stupid_. Leo winced as his thoughts once again returned to the deal. He hated himself for it, but he had to admit, he'd been cornered like a rat. _No offense to Master Splinter…_

Suddenly, Leo heard a soft shift on his left side. Quickly, he whirled around, hissing in pain as his broken ankle and the thousands of bruises and cuts all rebelled against the sudden movement.

The shadow in the corner of the roof moved and parted. Oroku Saki stepped out, without his armor on, but still wielding the claws.

"You're here."

Leo raised his head a little higher before smirking. "I made a deal…I suppose I have to be here, don't I?"

Saki chuckled. "I suppose you do."

Leo's smirk quickly faded. "Your part of the deal?"

Saki reached into his pocket and drew out a small black cube. "Here."

Leo nodded towards his brothers. "Them first."

Saki hesitated, his smirk fading as well. "Your deal?"

Leo rolled his eyes. "Unlike you, I have honor. Once I make a deal, I am bound to keep it."

Saki suddenly laughed again. "That is why I never follow the honor code. My spirit needs freedom…not to be bound by silly deals!"

Leo smirked. "And that is why I never joined you…"

Saki shook his head, his laughter growing. "And yet here you are…ready to trade."

Leo's eyes flashed. "I never joined you and I never will." Leo's fists clenched. "When I feel you weakening, Saki, I will break away…and you will pay! Mark my words!"

Saki nodded absently. "Of course…of course…now, let's get down to business, shall we?"

Leo sighed and nodded.

Saki grinned and squeezed the little cube. The cube immediately glowed a deep crimson.

His brothers' eyes flashed red for a second, before they collapsed.

Saki grinned. "My part is done. I await yours." Was all he said before he disappeared.

Leo let out a slow breath before stumbling over to his brothers.

But before he even reached them, Don's eyes opened and he groaned.

Leo paused and halted a few feet from them. After all he'd been through, he knew that he was treading on a thin line.

Don shook his head before sitting up. "Ouch…My head hurts…"

Mikey moaned before sitting up as well. "How many trucks hit me?" He asked groggily, looking around.

Raph shook his head and sat up. "Damn…that hurt."

Leo's heart took a great leap, before sinking again. His brothers were back, but he'll be gone.

Leo suddenly jolted out of thought by the door, which led up to the roof, opening. Leo groaned as he saw Casey, April, and Splinter stumbling up the stairs.

_Nice one, Leo._ He told himself.

Casey froze as he looked from Leo to Raph, Mikey, and Don, whom had just managed to get to their feet.

Casey's hands tightened into a fist.

Leo sighed as he massaged his temples. He didn't have the time…or strength…for this.

Raph blinked as he looked at Casey. "What's up with ya?"

Casey blinked in surprise, before looking at Leo. "Leo…" His voice cracked. "You okay? Did these _bastards_ hurt you anymore?"

Mikey stared. "Whoa! Back up there! _Bastards_? Leo, what's going on?"

Leo bit his lip and studied the floor.

"My son?"

Leo looked up, noticing that everyone's eyes were on him. Leo quickly looked down at the floor again.

Don suddenly gasped. "The Elite!"

Leo flinched as everyone drew out their weapons and took a defensive stance.

_It's time…_ Leo thought, closing his eyes and summoning the last bit of strength he had.

"Put your weapons away. You don't need them."

Leo flinched again as he felt everyone stare at him. "Leo?" He heard Don question. Suddenly Leo couldn't take it anymore.

"They're just here to make sure I keep up my part of the deal."

Silence.

Leo, after a few minutes, couldn't take it anymore and looked up.

Everyone was staring at him, their mouths hanging open in surprise.

April gulped. "Leo?" She whispered, looking scared. "What deal did you make with the Shredder?" She asked, her voice rising.

Leo looked away. "I'm really sorry guys, but you must understand something. I'm really sorry and I love you guys and I really thank you all for everything that you did, but now I really must go. And—" Leo said, pausing. "Whatever you do, DON'T come after me. I'm sorry."

Leo whispered, before whirling around and jumping onto the next roof, and then running off into the shadows.

The elite turned and disappeared.

Everyone else was left on top of the roof, with howling wind and rain soaking them.

* * *

_OKAY folks! That's it for 'In the Moon's Bloody Shadow'! _

_Now before anyone comes to kill me…(authoress hears a mob outside her window)…I'd like to remind you that there is a **SEQUEL** coming soon. Please be on the lookout for the second part of this story, titled: **'IN THE SUN'S TEARY REFLECTION.'**_

_Thank you, and don't forget to review! **NO** FLAMES!_


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